I’m just gonna go with stream of consciousness here ’cause I’m tired and I still have to write about Whitney Houston (tomorrow’s post).
On another note, I’m finally committing to twitter (sorta) – this is me @CrescentSpeak so eventually this flow will be carried out in real time but until then…
(1) Why didn’t I know LL Cool J was hosting? How did that escape my attention? I feel like the publicity about that was like close to nil but then again maybe I just wasn’t paying attention. Also, if he is the first host in 7 years what have they been doing????
ANYway, glad he was there even though sometimes I think his make-up is a bit too well done, hmmmm. Maybe I just keep forgetting how pretty he is…
A Prayer for Whitney Houston – soooooo happy this happened after Bruce’s opening. Thank You!!
(2) Red Carpet Thumbs Up: Kelly Rowland, Rihanna.
(3) Red Carpet Thumbs Down: Nicki “lost in the folds of lil Red Riding Hood’s hood” Minaj a.k.a. “The Devil’s Bride” was just weird. This is what happens when you decide to wear clothes that aren’t skin tight? Advice – go back to the skin tight look.
Also, generally I like Fergie’s style, but that crocheted sunkist orange doilie dress was unpleasant to see.
(4) Red Carpet “make ‘em say hmmm” moments: Flo Rida looked like LL’s doppelganger. And Katy Perry just looked ____.
(5) In the audience – I kept wondering who that beautiful man was sitting behind Adele and then he came up to present an award and I was like “Ooooooohhhh sh*t! THAT’S Victor Cruz all cleaned up and whatnot.” I didn’t know what he looked like without the helmet. Lawd have mercy, yes!!”
(6) Did Rihanna visit Tina Turner in the Thunderdome before the show? Or was she channeling Farrah Fawcett??
As I noted above she looked amazing on the red carpet and although the hair threw me off a bit, I didn’t mind it until I saw it again during her performance. Ehhhh. In any event, I admit it’s nice to see the “red menace” look gone. Re her “dancing” – did I know she couldn’t dance? Did YOU know she couldn’t dance? Was it just this particular performance?? Sooo confused.
I totally appreciated the “make some noise for Whitney” shout out. Thank you. Also, I appreciate that she has resisted getting a boob job. The IBT committee thanks you for representing!
(7) Beach Boys Tribute: Maroon 5′s “Surfer Girl” performance was a total downer – and this was my feeling during an already pretty depressing weekend. Foster The People doing “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” was a little better, it was more uptempo which definitely helped.
“Good Vibrations” was cool. Beach Boys still going strong! Lead singer Mike Love looks like Al Bundy, I mean Ed O’Neil. Come on you were thinking it as well.
(8) Standing ovation for both Stevie Wonder and Tony Bennett – good job grammy audience. Respect true talent & greatness!! Sometimes “celebrity” crowds get ish twisted. As evidenced by Bruno Mars saying “Get off your rich asses and let’s have some fun.” Again, that quote followed another shout out to Whitney that I totally appreciated but I think the bigger issue in that instance was Bruno’s performance – meh. Hey, I like the kid but that performance didn’t make me want to get up and dance.
(9) Paul McCartney – Smoooooth. Real grown man swag. Gots to love it! And I am REALLY feeling his “My Valentine” song. Beautiful.
(10) Etta James, Don Cornelius and Gil Scott-Heron – sooo if you got a quick shout out (or in Etta’s case a song) during the actual show you don’t get to show up in the “In Memoriam” section?? Seems a little incomplete when it might mean at most 30 more seconds of video. Guess it’s not the biggest deal in the world since they were acknowledged elsewhere but Gil and Don’s were waaaaay too brief. Hence we still have a need for the NAACP Image Awards and the BET Awards. Sigh.
AND thanks to a re-tweet I just realized they forgot Vesta Williams! You included NATE DOG but forgot VESTA WILLIAMS?!? #ColossalGrammyFAIL
(11) Chris Brown – I mentioned this on twitter and fb yesterday and I’m gonna repeat it ’cause he kept popping up during the show. I have finally gotten to the point where I can listen to some of his music again but in general I’m still cool on him. I keep trying to take his youth into consideration but it’s hard because damned if I think he really learned something from that horrific incident. And rocking the half unbuttoned shirt so the chest tattoos could breathe and get some front and center camera time did not help one iota.
(12) Taylor Swift – okay she’s cute. I get it. Not that I didn’t get it before but she just seemed “extra” cute last night. Kanye is an a*s, although I think he may have finally learned a lesson or at least a portion of a lesson. Lyrics from “New Day” (Watch The Throne):
“And I’ll never let my son have an ego
He’ll be nice to everyone, wherever we go
I mean I might even make him be Republican
So everybody know he love white people”
Maybe…
(13) Neil Patrick Harris – that man can wear a suit. #lovely
(14) Katy Perry’s performance was “interesting”. That’s all I got.
(15) Adele’s performance – inspiring. She is the truth. I soooo hope she is involved in the Whitney tribute that somebody’s network better be working on starting today. To the producers of that show: don’t f*ck up.
re Adele – her description of the inspiration for her “21″ album – a “Rubbish Relationship” – was perfect.
And as everyone should know by now she CLEANED UP! Specifically collecting “The Big 3″ – Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Album of the Year.
Question: What is the difference between Song of the Year and Record of the Year? Isn’t a song a record and vice versa? Or do I have that wrong? Yeah I could google it but I’m not, tired and now late to work.
(16) Nicki’s performance – excuse me while I go clean my eyeballs and my brain. I have ZERO affiliation with Catholicism and still (a) “I” felt mildly offended and (b) I felt like someone from the black community should go and apologize to the Catholic church. One of my peeps on fb said they knew what she was trying to do – well I don’t. Can someone explain that to me? If it’s as straightforward as she was trying to let us know that she is possessed and in desperate need of an exorcism then okay and I agree.
How dead on was it when the actor playing the Priest put his hands over his ears? Yep, that’s what I wanted to do and simultaneously cover my eyes as well.
She needed to get “snatched up” for that ish. Like an “ole school original black momma” snatch up. I get that nowadays the more outlandish you get the more attention you get but ewwwww – what WAS that?? I think I’m no longer surprised when Lady Gaga is well Lady Gaga but Nicki’s outlandish ish usually goes in a different direction. Not last night. I could have liked the song IF I had heard it before the performance but now? Now I’m just disturbed.
(17) The outside LA LIVE performance – Random. Hey Breezy, Run DMC’s “Tougher Than Leather” album cover called and said “No”. The mouse completely threw me off. And just when I thought that whole performance couldn’t get any more annoying, enter Lil Wayne. I’m done. I guess each generation is entitled to “their” scene. Well have at it. I’m bowing out while I still know better.
(18) FAVORITE MOMENTS: Jennifer Hudson performing “I Will Always Love You” – THANK YOU SO MUCH! Adele’s performance and this commercial re Adele’s “21″ album:
(19) OVERALL – If you missed the show you really didn’t miss anything. The standout moments (JHud and Adele) you can youtube and keep it moving. In a word, uninspiring and frankly I found it boring. And THIS was the show they had in place BEFORE we learned about Whitney. They showed highlights from last year’s show – much better. Sometimes you win…
(20) Speaking of winning, Whitney Houston at the 31st Annual Grammys:
I broke my heart
Fought every gain
To taste the sweet
I face the pain
I rise and fall
Yet through it all
This much remains
I want one moment in time
When I’m more than I thought I could be
When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away
And the answers are all up to me
Give me one moment in time
When I’m racing with destiny
Then in that one moment of time
I will feel
I will feel eternity
Still in shock…
I totally agree with your commentary! I am sadden by the lack of love from the media-Grammy of the passing of our black artist. Something is present here that no one is touching upon…that is mental illness. People are using drugs to cope with problems instead of finding noninvasive ways to deal with life difficulties. It seems that everyone is running away from their true selves that need some help to get back to the norm of life. It’s almost like no one wants to hold themselves responsible for their negative actions and act possessed by the devil(Nicki Minaj), but we are of free will and choose our actions. The devil is getting way more credit these days. The devil doesn’t have to work hard to get souls because people are running to him to excuse their horrific behavior. I am “Old School” and will always choose to be right in life and when needing help, I will turn to God/prayer, friends/family and good old fashion sitting on a couch talking to a counselor. So, I pray for all those who are lost.
Thank you for the comment Feleicia. I think the producers of the Grammys did what they could do on such short notice re acknowledging Whitney’s passing (somewhere someone is getting the ball rolling on a real tribute). Unfortunately overall the show itself just wasn’t very good this year. Still not sure about Nicki Minaj. I actually think she is a talented artist but that talent gets lost/buried/drowned by all that extra ish. Ditto re Lady Gaga. She has an amazing voice but when you’re so caught up in the spectacle it can be super easy to forget that factor. Also I can respect trying to impart “a message” but again if I can’t decipher the message or it is really only relevant to a small group of people then sorry I’m just gonna check out. Perhaps it’s a generational thing but I got Madonna, this ish right here is a whole ‘nother story…
p.s. – you had me CRYING on facebook last night. ‘Preciate it!
The difference between Song and Record of the Year is this:
Song refers to the actual composition itself. So, if you just sat down and played the piano and someone sang the song, which is the best actual song?
Record of the Year refers to which is the best overall produced piece of music (so, this kind of includes the song but also the production value, quality of the singing, the instruments chosen, the feeling of the playing). In other words, you couldn’t vote which is the best Record of the Year just by hearing someone play it on the piano because it necessarily includes all of the aspects that went into the recording.
Hope this helps!!
PERFECT!!!! Thank you for the info! Love my informed friends!!
Much respect to Tony Bennett and the Beach Boys…but I must admit I thought I was watching the Granny’s.
Lol!